(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an aircraft antenna, and also to an aircraft including such an antenna.
The invention thus lies in the technical field of antennas, and more particularly in the technical field of aircraft.
(2) Description of Related Art
It is common practice to arrange antennas on an aircraft in order to communicate with the outside. Nevertheless, such antennas project from the fuselage. The support surface for antennas is therefore subjected to corrosion and such antennas can make the aircraft unattractive.
It will also be understood that an antenna presents weight that is penalizing and a cost that is not negligible.
Finally, it can be understood that it is sometimes difficult to place an antenna at a location that maximizes its effectiveness, with this applying more particularly to an aircraft of the helicopter type.
Furthermore, among the equipment that an aircraft may include, cable-cutter devices are known that seek to cut a cable should it come into collision with the aircraft.
Document FR 2 443 309 describes a cable-cutter device having a pair of sharp edges arranged on a frame.
Those two sharp edges are arranged in such a manner as to form between them an angle, thereby producing a sloping plane or wedge effect, while also presenting a cutting face to a cable that comes into contact with the sharp edges.
The frame then has a jaw carrying the sharp edges, the jaw being extended by a bottom deflector fastened to the cockpit of an aircraft and by a top deflector.
On certain aircraft, an antenna is mounted close to the cable-cutter device, or indeed on the base of such a cable-cutter device, which base is fastened to the fuselage.
Proposals have also been made to fasten an antenna on the cable-cutter device.
Document WO 99/38770 thus proposes arranging a slot antenna on a cable-cutter device.
A conductive plate then has a slot filled with a dielectric material that is selected to optimize the impedance of the slot.
The state of the art also mentions impedance matchers, sometimes referred to as “tuners”, that serve to match the impedance of an antenna as a function of its requirements. Reference may be made to the information present on the Internet at the following address: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antenna_tuner.
The following documents are also known: WO 95/07214; EP 2 165 930; and WO 2006/068507.